UPDATE: Couple dies in Woburn plane crash

Saturday

Sep 15, 2018 at 2:37 PMSep 17, 2018 at 10:22 AM

A husband and wife died died Saturday morning, Sept. 15, when their small plane crashed into a wooded area of Woburn.

Dr. Michael Graver, 65 and his wife Jodi, 52, of New York were killed when their lightweight aircraft went down behind a home in the Minchin Drive area off of Lexington Street around 11 a.m., District Attorney Marian Ryan confirmed in a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Ryan described Graver was a "very experienced pilot" who co-owned the 2016 plane, according to reports from Wicked Local media partner, WCVB-TV. She said the couple departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York, at around 9:30 a.m. and had been heading to Hanscom Field in Bedford.

The airport is about four miles from the crash site.

First responders said there was a large fire when the first firefighters arrived at the scene.

"Everybody's house shook"

Residents congregating on Grace Road after the crash reported feeling a concussion that shook their homes. While there has been ongoing blasting in the area due to construction, this felt different, they said, like something had gone very wrong.

"This was bigger and badder, like there had been an accident," said a woman who declined to be named. "Everybody’s house shook as far as Parker Street."

Robert Miguel was working in the yard at his sister’s home on Grace Road when he heard the plane’s sputtering engine.

"Then there was nothing, just silence," he said. "Then boom."

Miguel ran to the area where he believed the plane came down, halfway between two houses off of Henderson Drive. He saw black smoke rising up and several fires on the ground. He saw a wheel, and part of the fuselage with the plane’s identifying numbers, he said. The smell of gas was in the air.

"We were calling out, but there was no response," he said. "It is very tough to see a loss of life."

In a press conference held Saturday afternoon, Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin confirmed the two deaths and added that there were no presumed survivors. There were no reported injuries on the ground. The FAA identified the plane as a Columbia Aircraft LC41.